March 15-22, 2008 Eastern - Way-Way Early Check In

[pop5]

Its almost here! I was going to loose 10 pounds for this cruise...... I just hope we have great weather and smooth seas.

 

[happymommy]

Happymommy, you do not need your passport to shop. St. Maarten takes US money and we always use our credit cards. St. Thomas is US so no problems there. Remember any alcohol you buy on the islands to bring back home has to be packed in checked baggage.

When we go to the islands I always carry our passports in my purse. I know others say don't do that but I do not venture into foreign territory without it. ST. Thomas isn't foreign territory but if you miss the ship you have to have that passport to fly back to the US.

Kathy

Thanks, Kathy! I remember that in the airport in San Juan we had to show our passports and airline tix to buy duty free, so I thought we'd need that also in St. Maarten or St. Thomas, to prove we're not local. We would only purchase a small amount to consume on the ship - it's not worth it to me to save the money to take it back home. I'm sure we'll have our luggage stuffed as it is! I may carry our passports with us as well.

Got my documents today! That was so cool to have the UPS man deliver them! Now we're just thinking about starting to pack!

My DH is thinking about tuxes for him and DS now. Anyone else doing them? I think it'll save a lot of packing as well - he can wear it to formal night, Palo, then semi formal night, so 3 nights taken care of. I found some for DS on ebay, but just waiting to see if DH's friend wants to spring for the tux as well (they will look so cute in them!).

Amy

 

[happymommy]

Liz -

I know I mentioned this way (WAY) back (can't believe it's almost cruise time!) but we're in Maryland as well. And we're forward on deck 7 also, connecting cat 10's. Of course, a verandah would have been nice, but I couldn't swallow the extra $ for that when I booked. And I liked the idea that we could have 2 cabins to stretch out when we are in the room (which won't be a whole lot of the time probably).

Don't quite get the tag thing, but I haven't even looked into magnets yet! I don't know how to make those cute ones I see in some posts, but did snag some lime green Mickey's a long time ago at Home Depot. Off to Michael's one of these days soon.

Amy

 

[lizg123]

We got ours today too. 19 DAYS TO GO! Our weather has been so lousy (snow, ice, etc...). Warm weather and nice warm ocean breezes sound so nice.

Lisa and others,
I just looked at the weather in St. Thomas. Take a look at this link:
http://*******.com/2uvw44
/tiny url (no space)

I think we picked the best month for cruising - not too hot or cold and the lowest amount of rainfall. 18 days and counting!!! I can't wait to get out of the snow.
Liz G
p.s. It won't let me put the link in correctly.

 

[tecdavidt]

Good Afternoon fellow cruise mates! I am going crazy here in Iowa! We got slammed again with another snowstorm!!! I can't take it any longer. I also learned today that we are suppose to have yet another storm this weekend!!!STOP please, enough already. We learned the lake we boat on in southern IA has 17", yes 17" of ice. So much for our boating season starting on April 1st this year. (We have a Carver aft cabin, no we don't water ski April 1st but we do leave the Canvas top up and the thick see through plastic glass up and we do have fun--but it won't happen this April.)

I'll stop whining now. We gave son's girlfriend's son his birthday gift. What a hit, he loves his Captain Jack Sparrow pirate costume. He is just bursting with joy about the upcoming trip.

His mother is looking forward to it and is also nervous about flying. She has never been in a plane before.

We sent home the suitcases Sunday so they can start packing. I photo copied my packing list so she has something to guide her.

Silly me, I sent with the "kids" our extra rollerboard. Wouldn't you know it, husband had an overnight business trip today. Last night we had to locate a dufflebag for him to use.

Our new cocktail dresses arrived and mine fits. I still need to corner daughter and have her try her's on. Husband took son and little boy out and bought them tuxes. They looked so handsome when they tried them on for me.

I live in IA why???? I can't wait to get back down to warm sunny Florida.
Kathy

 

[DisneyDaysLV]

Cruise Docs Received! DD(10 on 3/11) excited there are a lot of girls 9-11. DS(11) worried there are too many. Wilderness Lodge the night before and the night after cruise (Pirate and Princess Party in the MK on 3/14). We booked both all day beach excursions on both St Maarten and St Thomas.

 

[cozit]

First, is sea sickness seriously a problem? I didn't think we would even feel the boat moving.

Much of the time you barely do. I have had a history with sea sickness on ferries and fishing head boats, so I knew to take meds before boarding However, from what I felt during my first trip, and from what I've heard from others, it's not that unusual to have at least one day that you really *can* feel the ship moving. You may not feel it all the time as you move around and do other things, but you're likely to feel it when you're sitting or lying still. We had moderate seas on our "at sea day" during the first cruise I took. From time to time the ship moved enough that footing could be a bit "odd", but not as bad as the descriptions I've seen from time to time about not using elevators and almost crawling up the stairs to be safe. It varies.

I ended up taking the "less drowsy" Dramamine, and I could identify motions that have been a problem at other times in smaller boats... but had no trouble with queeziness that trip - just the very odd thought from time to time that I *should* feel queasy, and wasn't it odd that I didn't

I'm one of those with a 9 1/2DD on the trip... so I'm sure they'll come across each other at least from time to time. I hope you plan to meet up at the terminal before boarding (and/or at Scoops... was it after the drill? can't remember what that post on the first page said - info is there). All those 8-11 girls (and others of course) will get a chance to meet each other before they check out the Oceaneer Lab

 

[nlm]

Hi Everyone...I'm new to this forum and Disney cruising. Gathering from everyone's enthusiam, it is going to be great fun. Is anyone on here from SW Ohio? I'll be traveling with my sons (3 & 7), husband, parents, brother, and his family (wife and daughters ages 8 & 10).

kalaha! I'll add you to the list of cruisers on page 1 post #8.

Welcome aboard!

We are from Northern Kentucky (about 20 miles south of Cincinnati).

We are going to take a few beverages on board. I think we'll get it before we board and use a soft sided cooler. I like an occasional cocktail from time to time

There are a lot of 9 - 11 yr. old girls on this thread including my dd and niece. She's excited to meet her cruise buddies.

Lisa

DD10 is really excited to meet her cruise friends too! She's got about 20 green bead necklaces to hand out in the kids meet at port.

Cruise Docs Received! DD(10 on 3/11) excited there are a lot of girls 9-11. DS(11) worried there are too many. Wilderness Lodge the night before and the night after cruise (Pirate and Princess Party in the MK on 3/14). We booked both all day beach excursions on both St Maarten and St Thomas.

DD10 is emailing a few other 10 year old girls and would love to "virtually" meet your daughter too before the cruise. If you're interested, PM me and I'll send you her email address for your daughter.

Nancy

 

[DiszyGram]

Welcome Kalaha, We always choose a cabin on one of the lower decks because my daughter is so prone to motion sickness. The lower you are, the less motion in rough seas. We also try for the middle of the ship. Our porthole cabin is on deck 2 and in the middle.

The last Disney cruise we went on was the only one where we really felt the motion. That's because the ocean was exceptionally rough. If we almost fell out of our beds on deck two, the people up higher must have been rolling on the floor.

You will instantly become addicted to Disney cruises once you have been on one. I loved my recent Holland America cruise, which also went to St. Thomas, but I love the Disney cruises more.

 

[Gretel]

We got our documents today too! I still have to order hubby's tux, he was not to thrilled to find out his waist has expanded this winter!

I can not wait to get out of MinneSnowta!

 

[carolmp]

Good Afternoon fellow cruise mates! I am going crazy here in Iowa! We got slammed again with another snowstorm!!! I can't take it any longer. Kathy

Kathy,

Better you than me!! I'm up here in St. Paul, and once again the storms seem to be either going north to Duluth or south to you guys. We hit 40 for the first time in I don't know how long this weekend. People were out in shorts! It's back to 20 degrees now. It sure felt cold today.

We got our documents today also. I think I have printed out everything that I need (confirmations for flights, hotel and car rental). And I have my packing list pretty well finished. I really like to get packed up the weekend before so I'm not going crazy the night before we leave. I did figure out why I couldn't print out my cruise contract, so I got that straightened out. Thanks, Nancy!

So I thought of something today. If I am shopping in St. Maarten, can I pay in US dollars? Will they give me back US dollars if I pay in US dollars, or will they give me back Dutch currency? Or should I just plan on using my Visa? I'm only planning on picking up some trinkets for souvenirs. I'm not planning any major purchases. Do I convert US cash to Dutch currency on the ship? Will the ship convert any Dutch currency back to US currency for me?

Thanks,
Carol

 

[DisDancerina]

Have fun guys! Snooty people on cruises

 

[Gretel]

What excursions does everyone have planned? Anyone not doing any at all?

 

[happymommy]

You can use dollars in St. Maarten. Don't know about change. Call your credit card company ahead of time to let them know you're going to be out of the country - you can use credit cards some places as well.

No excursions for us at all. Just relaxing and playing it by ear.

Amy

 

[nlm]

My DH is thinking about tuxes for him and DS now. Anyone else doing them? I think it'll save a lot of packing as well - he can wear it to formal night, Palo, then semi formal night, so 3 nights taken care of. I found some for DS on ebay, but just waiting to see if DH's friend wants to spring for the tux as well (they will look so cute in them!).

DH decided not to rent the tux this time. He dug out a black suit, that still fits him, and so that's what he's going to wear.

We got our documents today too! I still have to order hubby's tux, he was not to thrilled to find out his waist has expanded this winter!

Hi Gretel!
There's a list of who is cruising, meets, and DIStage info on page 1, post #8. Please PM me if you'd like me to add you.

We got our documents today also. I think I have printed out everything that I need (confirmations for flights, hotel and car rental). And I have my packing list pretty well finished. I really like to get packed up the weekend before so I'm not going crazy the night before we leave. I did figure out why I couldn't print out my cruise contract, so I got that straightened out. Thanks, Nancy!

No docs for us yet. Hopefully they'll arrive today.

You're welcome! I'm glad you got the contract stuff done - one less thing to worry about, right?

What excursions does everyone have planned? Anyone not doing any at all?

We're doing the Catamaran on St. Maartin, the tram on St. Thomas, and parasailing on CC.

Does anyone else want to organize a meet later on in the week? So far we have the Friday 7:30 Radisson meet, the Saturday 11:00am in the terminal kids meet, the Saturday 3:00pm Scoops meet, and the Monday night 10:00 St. Patrick's Day meet.

Nancy

 

[pop5]

DONT convert your U.S. dollars. Dutch currency isnt necessary at any of the shops. They will give you U.S. change too. Most of them actually prefer U.S. money. Paige

 

[pop5]

I didnt understand the "snooty people on cruises". Did I miss something??

 

[DisDancerina]

I didnt understand the "snooty people on cruises". Did I miss something??

I was just bored lol. You're lucky you guys get to go I hope you have fun!

 

[disneycrazy2004]

What excursions does everyone have planned? Anyone not doing any at all?

We don't have excursions booked at all. The kids were not interested at all. So I think we going to go on our own. Planning to visit the Butterfly Farm at St. Tomas or St. Maarten. Anyone been there? Is one better then the other?

We just got our documents as well and getting very excited. Can't wait! we are from eastern Canada and got slammed with another big snow storm today. The whole island shut down......

 

[happymommy]

Disneycrazy2004 -

Wow, bet you are so ready to see some warm weather! One of my favorite movies was the Anne of Green Gables series (I forget who produced them) and I think they were filmed on your island. It was so beautiful!

None of the excursions thrilled us at all, and with young kids, it's nice to just explore a little bit then we'll just enjoy the ship maybe. I do think that tram ride in St. Maarten sounds fun, but can't you just go and do that yourself? I looks like you get a beautiful view.

Since we're with friends (group of 8 total) I don't know if we'll make any meets.

How many guys are doing tuxes? We weren't going to originally, but it sounds fun now, and then you don't have to pack a suit.

Amy